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My husband and I would like to stay for 3 nights in late Feb, 2019, for daily hiking in Mt Cook NP. I have read many posts and articles about Mt Cook Village, Glentanner Park, and Twizel. Would you kindly help us decide which area to book our lodging. I fear our options may be limited because lodging demand exceeds supply here.

Your demands are unlikely to be fully met due to the limited accommodation in the area.

Aoraki-Mt Cook Village has 5 accommodation providers, ranging from 4 star hotel to the YHA hostel. Aoraki Court Motel gets the highest approval rating. There is no private accommodation apart from homes for the park rangers & pilots so no vacation rentals or condos.

Glentanner is a camp ground, specifically for camper vans and budget travellers. I have stayed there a number of times. Its facilities are basic - communal kitchen, guest laundry, TV room etc.

Twizel was built as a works camp for the power scheme and many of the homes have been bought as holiday homes so this is your best chance for AirBnB with full kitchen & laundry, but you have to factor in the drive to Mt Cook Village.

>>Twizel was built as a works camp for the power scheme and many of the homes have been bought as holiday homes so this is your best chance for AirBnB with full kitchen & laundry, but you have to factor in the drive to Mt Cook Village.<<

and also the fact that it as scenic as any works camp you have ever seen with night life to rival a nursing home.

Flyer: you make me laugh so hard. My hubby actually works in nursing homes. I don't mind the lack of nightlife because I read, keep a journal, and edit my photos at night.

Thanks to Zhuhai and Flyer, I looked up Twizel and Waitaki hydro scheme and power stations. I'm very interested in renewable energy so I will read more on this later.

Zhuhai's info helps me a lot. I think Twizel is my best bet at getting a clean, quiet vacation rental with a full kitchen and washer. Privacy, comfort and good sleeps are important for us, especially for a 3-night stay. Most accommodations at Mt. Cook Village are already booked on our desired dates, ranging from NZ$210-600 per night. They are not comparable in price or quality to the airbnb private homes in Twizel. Therefore, we will put aside 2 hours each day for driving to and from Mt Cook Village. We would think of the drive as an attraction in itself.

Furthermore, I read that Mt Cook Village and National Park are swarmed in February and March because of the Chinese New Year. I am confused: the Chinese folks from Mainland China are vacationing here in Feb and March next year? Or the Chinese New Zealanders are traveling internally? Why do them come here versus Abel Tasman NP, Curio Bay, Te Anau, Queenstown, Christchurch, etc.?

You are right about the quality difference which was what OZRCflyer was alluding to. Twizel is not the most desirable place to stay but good for very basic fishing lodge accommodation. I just got the feeling from your OP that you were after something a bit more stylish.

The Hermatage has some self-contained chalets and Aoraki Court Motel has a nice kitchenette in their rooms. But if you are happy with what you found in Twizel and are okay with the drive each day to Mt Cook, then all is good.

It is the Chinese who have month-long holidays coming to New Zealand. Queenstown seems to be their main destination. There is a typical routing making a loop to Christchurch, taking in the West Coast Glaciers and Mount Cook. We caution about Mt Cook because there is so little accommodation there, but they will certainly mob* Queenstown, Te Anau, Fox/Franz, etc. Curio Bay is a bit out of the way and they haven't become that adventurous (yet!). This has become apparent in only the past few years and the infrastructure hasn't caught up.

*mob is relative. It won't be like Europe in summer. It impacts accommodation, but roads won't be a traffic jam and you won't have to queue up for an hour to see an attraction.

I stayed at the YHA Mt Cook, a single room. in April 2015. Would highly recommend it. There was no grocery store at Mt Cook at that time. Food at the restaurants were pricey and lousy, even by NZ standard.